This invention relates to a cleaning apparatus, more particularly, to a cleaning apparatus which combines two or more cleaning implements, such as a brush and mop, and is suitable for cleaning various floors with rough and porous surfaces such as clay and concrete floor surfaces.
Floor mops have long been used to wash and clean floor surfaces. A typical mop implement usually comprises a bundle of fabric rags, yarns, or a sponge attached to the end of a handle. During a cleaning operation, the cleaner, or operator, first dips the absorbent material of the mop into a cleaning fluid (typically water with dissolved detergent) and then moves the mop back and forth on the floor surface to be cleaned. One problem with this type of mop implement is that, although it can efficiently wash smooth surfaces and remove loose litter or dirt, the mop can not efficiently remove tough ground-in dirt which is either built up in the grout lines of tiles or adhered on the surface because the absorbent material is too soft and the contact-area between the absorbent material and the floor surface is relatively large. In the case of a rough and porous floor surface, the situation becomes even worse because particles and other contamination tend to become stuck to the tiny cavities and pores on the floor surface. In many applications a rough and porous floor surface is preferred for certain purposes, such as slip protection. For example, the floor of a restaurant's kitchen is typically made of clay or concrete with rough surfaces to protect people from slipping. To maintain this kind of floor surface, the ground-in dirt and particles stuck to the porous surface must be periodically removed by manual scrubbing using a deck brush with sufficiently hard bristles. Preferably, a deck brush is used on such a floor at least once per day. However, in actual practice, a deck brush is used far less frequently, resulting in an unnecessarily slippery floor.
The combination of a mop and a brush into a single cleaning apparatus has been disclosed in the prior art, but solely for the purpose of allowing the user thereof to scrub scuff marks and other stains. In Canadian Patent No. 737,140, a combination floor mop is disclosed, which has a brush attachment actuable upon manual operation of the handle. By tilting the handle against the mop holder at different angles, the brush can be put in a position either in direct contact or out of contact with the floor surface. Therefore, the operator can chose to use the mop or the brush alone, or to use both of them at the same time. Although certain advantages have been achieved by this cleaning apparatus, it has several significant disadvantages. First, the positions of the mop and the brush relative to the floor surface to be cleaned can only be adjusted by tilting the handle against the mop holder. For example, when the handle is in a vertical position (the handle is perpendicular to the mop holder surface) the brush is brought out of contact with the floor surface, when the handle is in a substantially horizontal position (the handle is parallel to the mop holder surface) the brush is moved forward to be in direct contact with the floor surface. Thus, in order to conduct different operation mode, the operator must operate the cleaning apparatus at different angles between the handle and mop holder surface, and under certain angles it is very difficult and uncomfortable to operate. Secondly, the adjustable range of the brush is very limited.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,522,110 discloses a cleaning apparatus having a brush portion and an absorbent material portion amounted in the same base member, and a wringer is attached to the base member. The positions of the brush and the absorbent material relative to the floor surface are not adjustable. U.S. Pat. No. 5,584,091 discloses a similar cleaning system including a cleaning apparatus which has both a brush and a absorbent material attached to a single mop holder. Again, the relative positions of the brush and the mop are not adjustable. The disadvantage of the unadjustable brush and mop is that only one operation mode is available, and that it is not convenient to clean and replace the absorbent material and the brush.
A common problem of the combined mop and brush cleaning apparatuses disclosed in the prior art is that the relative positions of the brush and the absorbent material cannot be easily and independently adjusted for the purpose of providing different operation modes and an easy access to replacing and cleaning of the mop and the brush. Therefore, a need still exists for providing a cleaning apparatus for cleaning a floor surface, especially a rough and porous surface. Such cleaning apparatus should be readily adjusted to meet the cleaning requirements of different surfaces and can be cleaned and replaced with different parts easily.